list.in.to.chicago this week: 04.14.2008

I've got your economic stimulus package right here. No, I don't know what that even means.

Pick of the week
If I were to go to one show this week, it would be Me'Shell Ndegeocello at Kinetic Playground on Saturday. Of course, I have other obligations that night, so other standouts are Yeasayer on Wednesday at Logan Square Auditorium and The Mars Volta at the Aragon on Sunday. Or Asia at House of Blues that same night if you're of a certain age.

list.in.to.COZ
We've got a work thing earlier Tuesday night, so we'll see how functional I am by the time I hit Vaughan's. Next Diver show is May 8th at Cubby Bear Wrigleyville.

Recap
So the cool thing about last night's Athlete show is that they let Helicopters' drummer sit in with them. That's a lot funnier if you were there and knew that both of them had their drums programmed into a laptop. While I liked them better with live drums, the stripped down format proved that the UK band has some really good songs.

4.14   monday
Styx with Koko Taylor (The Vic)
This one is just odd on any number of levels, but it's a benefit concert, which can make for strange bedfellows. Plus, it's local blues heavyweight Koko Taylor's annual fundraising event, which explains her presence. Still, the Vic Theatre will not be confused for the Paradise any time soon.

Madina Lake with Story Of The Year, Josephine Collective (House of Blues)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I sorta need something else to say about these guys other than making fun of the many colors of their hair, but I haven't found it yet.

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir with Northern Room, Tim Larson, Gay 4 Girls, DJ Hilary Rawk (Schubas)
The Monday night residency continues, this time with what looks like a cast of thousands.

4.15   tuesday
Open Jam (Vaughan's)   COZ SINGS!
I guess it's only appropriate to encourage songs about taxes and/or money. And I might be overserved by the time I get there, and you don't want to miss that.

Chevelle with Finger Eleven, God or Julie (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
While I still haven't heard an album from the local hard-rockers that's as good as their debut, they can get by on that record's reputation with me for some time.

Justin Currie with Angie Mattson (Schubas)
Used to be in Del Amitri. Early show is sold out.

4.16   wednesday
Via Audio with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Silent Years (Empty Bottle)
The band with the really long name is nominally the headliner, but I've liked what I've heard from the Berklee College of Music alums in Via Audio.

Yeasayer with Man Man (Logan Square Auditorium)
On the one hand, they also have lots of world music influences on their indie rock. On the other hand, they sound almost nothing like Vampire Weekend. So far, I like Yeasayer better, but after seeing them at Pitchfork last year, I don't particularly care for Man Man.

Super Model Freak Tooth (Viaduct Theater)   FRIENDS OF COZ!
I flagged this one last week after seeing Gerald Dowd's name as the drummer of record. Must be a steady Wednesday night gig.

4.17   thursday
My Chemical Romance with Billy Talent, Drive By (Congress Theater)
Great, this means we're going to have to hear Jim DeRogatis go on about how making an emo version of Pink Floyd's The Wall was actually a good idea. How MCR's bombast is so great while DeRo thinks Muse's bombast is shit is exactly why you should only consider a rock critic's opinion as a starting point. Then again, Jim would probably tell you exactly the same thing.

Sara Bareilles with Rachael Yamagata, Raining Jane (House of Blues)   SOLD OUT!
I've seen her name quite a bit, but female piano-based pop songwriters aren't something I tend to seek out all that much, so I haven't heard her.

Hot Chip with Free Blood (The Vic)   SOLD OUT!
One of those hipster indie bands that I don't quite get, or at least haven't quite gotten around to getting. I may have one track on my iPod somewhere.

Destroyer with Colossal Yes (Logan Square Auditorium)
As much as I like New Pornographers, I'm not really a big fan of Dan Bejar's own band. His voice gets on my nerves when it's not balanced out by the other vocalists in the indie supergroup.

4.18   friday
Missile with Wicked Liz and The Bellyswirls, Epicycle, Sweetish, BrownLine Fiasco, The Help Desk, Barry Holdship Four (Bird's Nest)
This is part of the International Pop Overthrow festival, and on top of headliners Missile, who I saw and enjoyed a long, long time ago when they shared a bill with URT, it also features Sweetish, which is sort of an ethereal electro-pop duo featuring the friend of a co-worker of mine.

Saul Williams with Dragons of Zynth (Martyrs')   SOLD OUT!
I wouldn't necessarily say that Williams and producer Trent Reznor were trying to ride on Radiohead's coattails when they made Williams' semi-controversial Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust available for whatever you wanted to pay, but I do think Reznor made a fundamental mistake when he bitched about 80% of people not paying for it. That equation works much, much differently for a newer artist. On the flip side, if Williams is selling out venues on his tour, it might still end up as a win.

Rogue Wave with Grand Ole Party, Super Mega Ultra (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
Solid, if unremarkable, indie rock, although I think their latest record has gotten pretty strong reviews. It came out way back in September, but I'm assuming tour plans were interrupted, to say the least, when the band's bass player died in a fire in December. According to Wikipedia, Zach Rogue is not the lead singer's real name, so Frisbie has that one up on them.

My Chemical Romance with Billy Talent, Drive By (Congress Theater)
See Thursday's listing.

4.19   saturday
The Bravery with Fiction Plane, Your Vegas (Metro)
You know, this was the band that you used to hear on the radio and think was The Killers. And Fiction Plane is Sting's kid's band.

Me'Shell Ndegeocello (Kinetic Playground)
I'm kind of bummed that I've got other plans on Saturday night, because Ndegeocello is probably my favorite bass player on the planet. That said, I have no idea how much bass she's playing in her band these days, as her records are coming out on labels that don't show up on Rhapsody.

Bound Stems with So Many Dynamos, Bailiff (Subterranean)
While there's one trend toward world music influences in indie rock, there's another equally strong for male/female vocals that may have started with New Pornographers and Rilo Kiley, but is in full swing with bands like Bound Stems, Office, The Hush Sound and Sons & Daughters. Although some of those might just have female vocals, but a similar musical aesthetic.

Zakir Hussein and the Masters of Percussion (Symphony Center)
One of my favorite Indian percussionists, Hussein has played with lots and lots of jazz and electronic heavyweights over the years, particularly John McLaughlin and Bill Laswell. And yes, I have more than one favorite Indian percussionist.

Bob Mintzer Quartet (Green Mill)
I sort of lost track of Mintzer back in the early nineties when he moved from his own big band to borderline smooth jazzers The Yellowjackets, but he was a good addition to that band at the time. I probably still have a copy of The Spin on cassette in a closet somewhere.

Pegboy with The Methadones, The Copyrights, The Steinways, Dear Landlord (Bottom Lounge)
This is the first listing I've seen for the "new" Bottom Lounge -- now next to the Green Line tracks just east of the Ashland stop instead of just east of the Red Line tracks at Belmont -- featuring the re-activated punk stalwarts.

Meat Beat Manifesto with Raz Mesinai's Badawi, DJs Chris Widman and Luke Stokes (Abbey Pub)
Not necessarily my cup o' tea, but a friend recently blogged about their show in L.A., and she was pretty much in heaven.

Santana with the Derek Trucks Band (Allstate Arena)
One of those artists who can get away with making "Fucking" their middle name. You've got Carlos Fucking Santana and Bon Fucking Jovi. Any others? For some reason, something like Fiona Fucking Apple or Neil Fucking Diamond doesn't quite work. And now I've assured this gets flagged as spam.

Rogue Wave with Grand Ole Party, Super Mega Ultra (Schubas)   SOLD OUT!
See Friday's listing.

4.20   sunday
The Mars Volta (Aragon Ballroom)
I really, really like the new record from the neo-prog standouts, along with their new drummer. It may be ten or fifteen minutes too long, though, which has me a little worried about the sonic onslaught of an entire concert from these guys. The "statistical density" of the music, to borrow from Frank Zappa, can be tough to process for extended periods of time.

Asia (House of Blues)
If I wasn't going to see The Mars Volta, I would totally be going to see the original lineup of Asia. When you add that to a slate of concerts this summer that includes Rush, Yes and King Crimson, it's like I'm reliving high school. They're actually releasing a new record that does not begin and end with the letter A soon, possibly this week.

The New Pornographers with Okkervil River (Riviera Theatre)
I'm guessing Dan Bejar is not on this tour, unless he's just hanging around in town after his show on Thursday. And if Bejar's not with them, there's a better than average chance that Neko Case is out, too.